By mid-afternoon, the city had lost none of its restless energy. Crowds moved like rivers of light and sound through the streets, oblivious to the unseen games played in the spaces between them. Liora walked alongside Seren, still shaken from the morning's incident. Her notebook was clutched tightly in her hands, sketches of flickering shapes and distorted faces scrawled across the pages.
"Can you… control it?" Seren asked suddenly, eyes narrowing. "The visions?"
Liora shook her head, exhaling shakily. "No. I can see fragments… echoes. But I don't understand them. Sometimes they vanish as quickly as they appear."
"Good," Seren said, with an edge of mischief that did little to comfort her. "Because control will get you killed. Sometimes it's better to just… follow them."
Before Liora could respond, a sudden chill washed over her, crawling up her spine. The air seemed to warp, shadows stretching unnaturally along the brick walls. And then she saw it: a figure—tall, faceless, moving with an unnatural smoothness. It wasn't part of the crowd, yet it navigated through it as though it belonged.
"Run!" Liora screamed, instinct taking over.
Seren grabbed her arm, yanking her into a narrow alley just as the faceless figure lunged. Liora stumbled but didn't fall. Behind them, the city's normal hum seemed to fade, replaced by a tense silence broken only by the quick beat of their hearts.
Aiden's voice cut through the silence, calm but commanding. "Stop."
The figure froze. Liora's eyes widened Aiden had appeared as if from nowhere, standing between them and the shadow. In one fluid motion, he extended a hand, and the figure recoiled, as if repelled by some invisible force.
"You're safe for now," Aiden said, his storm-gray eyes scanning the alley and its entrances. "But they know you exist."
"Who?!" Liora demanded, panic rising.
"Those who erase," he replied. "Those who make the forgotten. And they're always watching."
The shadow flickered once more and then vanished, leaving only a trace of cold in its wake. Liora's knees weakened, but Seren caught her before she fell.
"You see?" Seren whispered, her usual playfulness gone. "The city doesn't just whisper. It attacks."
Aiden stepped closer to Liora, lowering his voice. "You have a gift. A dangerous one. But you're not alone. Not anymore. I'll protect you but you need to learn fast."
Liora met his gaze. Fear tangled with curiosity, with the spark of something else she couldn't name. Hope? Defiance? Maybe a hint of something darker.
One thing was certain: life as she knew it was over. The city had marked her. And there was no turning back.